Fittin' and weldin'

At this moment I feel pretty damn good. The roll cage is mostly done, some minor additions and touch ups before paint. This surely eases some pressure from Christmas holidays. Fitting the tubes was easy but it still took loads of time to get it right. And by now means this is to be considered as a "one man job". My garage mate Tomi helped me through the toughest spots. Maybe if you had some previous experience and suitable tube "clamps" or such one could make it alone. But I think another eye pair is welcome when checking the symmetry and angles right. Not to forget all the speculations of the available options that one could escalate the build into.

Since I'm not really a good welder by any standards I'm not including any glorious detail shots of the perfect seams. Instead I want to appraise the borrowed Kemppi mig welding machine. I did not think there would be a big difference between different types but my god was I wrong. This Kempomat was a really old one, but then again, basic mig welders have only gone plastic over the last few years and yes, they've become lighter also. Our garage mate Iiro was kind enough to lend me his Kemppi for the final welds session. He had obtained this machine after getting a hint from one of the Kemppi sales people that these old ones go from "father to son". I can believe that, really. With my none existing welding skills I was able to obtain some pretty damn perfect seams on trial pieces. It did not really have any hiccups no matter how we tried to off tune it. ;) So the final seams on the actual cage should have been easy right? I guess the difficulty comes from the non ergonomic positions when doing it. Some of the seams you can't get to and some spots are just too tight or you can't see or... List goes on. Still, very happy with the results.

Ah yes, and the cage itself is built to comply FHRA specs. Diagonal tubes from the main arc to main frame are still missing and some extra tubes to front axle will be added. I believe the horizontal tube just below the dash is not required either but it does make sense doesn't it?  This set proofed to be a snug fit with the shell. I wish the old RL would sell similar style with his CroMo cages. But that would not be "Unisex" then would it?

Tubular works

Fitting a roll cage is nothing familiar to me. Cost and time wise I think there is really no excuse on making it by yourself. Still, new things give me the thrills and I ended up buying a few gadgets to help me with the task. I believe there are a few "form combs" on the market for different size pipes if one decides to fit the pipes the hard way. I took an el cheapo short cut and got a Woodward Fab tube notcher. Must have been something around 100 e for the tool and "experts" on the web say it's pretty much bs. I must say first thoughts on the tool are very positive. Of course there are fancier solutions on the market but as I wasn't planning on making a business out of cage fitting this looks to be more than good enough. One does need a strong hand held drill machine that revs around 800 rpm or so. The tool uses regular hole saw bits available on most tool shops. Below are some images of after we got started. I'm very pleased that the main arc sits just behind the b-post. front arcs could have gone slightly forward but then there would have been some more dash painting issues so this will have to do.

The cage is an old mild steel set made by former company Hewiset. All in all, the fit is quite good and tight. Bender was needed to get the fit up to FHRA specs. Original dimensions on the main arch would have required mounting straight to heater channel and we were aiming to mount them on basic 3mm plates on the floor pan.

Inspirational fall

It's really been an inspirational fall this year. Working on the drag project feels good and stuff seems to get done also. After blasting all the remaining welds have been done, grinding pretty much done. Some set backs of course. The driver side door needs to be redone. It was just too twisted and hinge side also cracked etc. So looking for a new donor at this moment. These days good repair panels seem to be available through Virtanen resto panels here in Finland. They were not few years ago... Obtained some epoxy primer for the welds. Some sealant to make them sound and the shell should be ready for the body and paint work! Paint booth is reserved early next year, and that I'm very pleased with. Decided not to spray it myself since time looks to be very limited these days. 1 evening per week is really had to come by. Meaning the project progress is sloooowww...

Trial engine parts have also landed from US. Some machining and fit work with them as soon as the cage is welded in the shell. This engine is a bit smallish. Something around 78x94mm. Based in mag case and supaflo style heads. Carburated, well what did you expect? High compression and E85 as it is trendy these days...Tranny will be too long for it but for trial purposes (and hopefully some small wheelies) it should be more than fine. Final destination for it will be in the grey 62. That mouse engine is nice, but come on, no surprises there in the acceleration department...

No project pics, posting a blast from the past instead. In 1950 Autola Company officially imported the first beetles to Finland. 12 of these cars were handed to their new owners on 9th of June at Senate Square in Helsinki. I've seen a few images of this occasion in the web but none of them are accurate enough to see the licence plates if my car was actually there. Some cars of the first patch were not. The serial in the pan tells that this car was ordered by Metalliteos Oy. Later well known as Metos, a  professional kitchen appliances manufacturer in Finland.  Kind of funny to find out these things at this stage of the project... Not that I was actually looking. ;)

Sodamaan

As I probably wrote earlier, the front fenders needed replacing since they were not actually a pair. Lamps were in different height and the shape was not similar on them either. Swapped these to another early 60's pair in decent form. Some rust but, doable to say the least. Didn't want to start welding them until some sand blasting or similar. At that point I asked some offers of blasting mainly the fenders vs. blasting the whole lot. It just made sense to have that all done at the same time - at least cost wise. Local soda-hero blasted the shell and parts with soda and glass where it was needed. I have to say that I'm very pleased with the result. Welding bare metal is quite nice, and now the shell is so much cleaner for the paint and body works...

 

Trial fit of the fenders and door was somewhat successful. Even though they are reproductions for my purpeses the fit is more than acceptable. I'd say this means that roll cage fitting will be in the horizon very soon!!!

Long Gone

Looks like nothings happened for ages... Almost true, but then not at all. Did manage to get that Anthracite rolling after minor work on horn, windshield washer, carbs, family. The usual stuff. The car was drivable for long but just wanted to MOT it without any major concerns this time. Only problems actually was the missing paper work of the changed parts. Since the car was a historic plates car before the MOT check was more than just checking the driving condition. Obviously the engine size, axles etc was added to the registration info. After giving the full list it was all good to go. Well, it too 2-3 hours office work and me drinking "free" coffee. The picture below is a steal from Volkswanker (props to Jyri) blog as a proof that the car was at crem-a-que this summer. Notice how sunny it was? Was it really?? I thought it rained through it all...